Manuscript DS as president, signed “M. Van Buren,” one page, 9.5 x 14.5, March 11, 1840. In part: “A certain Negress, Henny Gray, was convicted of keeping a House of ill fame and sentenced to pay a fine of thirty dollars and costs, and be imprisoned two months, and further to stand committed until the said fine and costs are paid…I, Martin Van Buren, President of the United States of America…do hereby remit unto the said Henny Gray the fine and costs above mentioned, and order that she be forthwith released from imprisonment.” Signed at the conclusion by Van Buren and countersigned by Secretary of State John Forsyth. White paper seal affixed to lower left remains crisp and fully intact. Intersecting folds (one vertical fold passing through a single letter of the signature), and tape-repaired partial separation to central horizontal fold, otherwise fine condition. Van Buren considered slavery morally wrong but sanctioned by the Constitution; in 1848 he ran for president as a Free Soil Party candidate, which opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories. Unusually interesting content for a presidential document. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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